Progress comes in small steps but realization of it comes in leaps and bounds of imagination once we are clear enough to realize where we are and what we can know from the vantage point.
For example you work on moving with your partner for a while on merging with his levers to avoid becoming tense and injured from them and only after a long while you will realize that if you move according to your partner you are already tense. You will avoid becoming tense once you move to your own rhythm and move according to what is natural to you and the tension will not come inside you.
A small practical example is to walk. If you are pushed and you jump or try to balance it is an unnatural movement if you are moved into it. Start slow and keep breathing and you will find already within yourself the solution. If you are levered by the elbow and you bend and move your legs and arms away from your body you are trying to spread the tension and that is fine but will not work sometimes. If you take the patience and consideration to simply walk it out leaving the tension outside and choosing instead of being pushed you will not be controlled once you have self awareness.
Have a partner take you by the hand and start to lever and move you. You need to keep the tension outside you you by first breathing according to the level of tension outside and inside so you avoid letting the mental and emotional tension to come inside and than by moving as you choose first very slowly to avoid erratic movement and than faster you you relax simply walking and doing what you feel is right.
A video will be out soon to illustrate in principal.
Month: May 2010
Take a simple water bottle and half fill it. Hold first the narrow tip and slowly move it around you over the head and drawing shapes in the air.
Keep the surface of the water perfectly still and your wrist alighned with your forearm.
Mind the change in your work afterwards and remember to relax and keep breathing.
Take a stand
I prefer to work barefoot or with light moccasins. Others depend on their Crocks in the farm for irrigation and quick cleaning and the list goes on and on. Do your regular work with different footwear than what you have in mind and see how you can roll and turn and squat with dancing shoes or with steel toed boots. Work on pushing each other lightly on a flight of stairs and do the basic drill of sitting down and getting up with your rifle on a moving target (or simply use a laser pointer on a cat…) in different footwear.
Have your partner lie on the ground and stand on his stomach. Have him escape your mass by moving starting with the free points and advance to standing a few on one and in different positions (kicking is optional but very motivating) point your gun or pointer at a silent target while standing on your partner and have him move first by just breathing and than moving about as he or she wishes. Your job is to let the moving ground under you manifest just in that area and to keep a relaxed and mobile upper body and also stay on target. Advance to having a partner throw balls at you as you are held by one leg and levered to stay put. This will allow you to learn to keep local tension local and to correspond with your handler to avoid giving him your movement in advance. In short standing and moving on a partner will help you both clean out excess movement and to learn to move each part freely from the other.
Learning to walk may start with stumbling which is fine and the logical thing to do is to clean out the stumbling from the walk once we are able to.
Start with a partner and a stick. Look forward and up and tense and relax shoulders and hips a few times. Now start walking slowly and your partner which is squatting will place the stick where you naturally intend to land your food and you need to adjust and avoid pressing on the stick in air or stumble using your body movement and avoiding guiding your legs with your eyes alone. It is tempting to lower your eyes and avoid the data your legs are giving you and your narrow vision will relax with continuous breathing and you will learn to pay attention to your hips and feet and walk instead of stumbling. Your partner will be vigil to address your tensions and rigid movement and you work on keeping calm and relaxed. Just walk and avoid fighting or stumbling upon reality. Another way to do this is to walk in a bush with eyes looking forward and up and to let the eyes relax with time and slowly moving to let the feet figure things out for themselves as you learn to do different things with different body parts and to again simply walk without falling and impacting yourself with each step.
The Martial Art of Walking 